Appointment of Mark McKinnon, 585 Franklin Street, to the Melrose Housing Authority for a five-year term, said term to expire first Monday of March, 2029. Mr. McKinnon is completing the term of Ellen Connolly who has stepped down.

Transcript (~7 min @ 2:38)

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▶ 2:23 Jen Grigoraitis: Thank you. At this time, I'll motion by unanimous consent to close public comment. And I see I skipped minutes approval, so at this time, I'll also motion by unanimous consent to approve the minutes of the boards and commissions meeting from April 6th. Seeing no objections, those are now approved. The first order before us is ID number 2026-1146, the appointment of Mark McKinnon, 585 Franklin Street, to the Melrose Housing Authority for a five-year term, said term to expire first Monday of March 2029. Mr. McKinnon is completing the term of Ellen Connolly, who has stepped down. And we have with us Mr. McKinnon and the mayor. Welcome. Good evening, Madam Chair and councilors. Thank you for having us tonight. So just to expand on what was so articulately said in public comment, I'm thrilled to put Mark McKinnon before you tonight for your consideration to the housing authority. He will be replacing the longtime chair of the authority. It's not often that we replace members of that board, so it's really an important opportunity. As I believe you know, we have multiple public housing buildings here in Melrose, and while they're not directly run by the city, they're largely run through the federal and state programs. I do have the opportunity to appoint board members to help in their oversight. In addition to everything that was said about Mr. McKinnon, his lifelong commitment to Melrose, his vast professional experience, he also understands the nexus of federal, state, and local government, which is actively at play every day at the housing authority, as well as meeting the needs of complex individuals. The most frequent housing calls that come into my office are from our residents at the housing authority, and helping folks understand where the city versus the state versus the federal government ends can be really confusing, and being able to do that at a high level on the board and help to communicate that empathetically and consistently will be a really big asset for him on that board. So I'm thrilled to have him here tonight. I'm really grateful for his willingness to serve, and thank you for your consideration. Thank you, Madam Mayor. And Mr. McKinnon, would you like to say anything before we open it up for questions?

▶ 4:23 Speaker 4: No, I appreciate the mayor's words and Jen's words as well. I'm excited to serve in this capacity, if you all agree. And yeah, I love Melrose, like Jen mentioned, born and raised here. Excited to serve in this added capacity beyond just private citizen. So thank you.

▶ 4:43 Kimberly Vandiver: Thank you. Any questions from the committee?

▶ 4:49 Bradley Freeman: President Freeman. Thank you. And thank you, Mr. McKinnon, for your willingness to serve. I'm really excited to have the opportunity to have someone in the housing authority who does have this federal government experience, as well as state government experience, and recognizing the unique role those do play in housing projects, knowing that you served as an ally, but more importantly, constituent services. I think having the ability to answer those questions and direct people to get the resources is really such a critical role, and as someone who dealt with constituent services, I'm sure you're incredibly well-versed in that. Just in your time in D.C., did you work on any housing policy that would be pertinent to the housing authority within your legislative portfolio?

▶ 5:26 Speaker 4: Not directly. When I was in LA in D.C., I worked on LGBTQ issues, immigration, and actually postal service. But we did-- Catherine Clark's a huge champion for public housing, so I did get to work with people who worked on those types of pieces of legislation. I think D.C.'s a complicated place, so I imagine that that experience just generally will hopefully help me in this capacity on a local level. But hopefully that answers your question, not directly with housing, but worked closely with colleagues who did.

▶ 6:04 Bradley Freeman: That's wonderful, just the fact that you have colleagues who did that. You'll know who to call if there's a question about D.C. policy.

▶ 6:09 Speaker 4: Yeah. I hope they'll still pick up the phone.

▶ 6:11 Bradley Freeman: Absolutely. Well, thank you very much, and I look forward to supporting your nomination.

▶ 6:15 Speaker 4: Thank you. Appreciate it

▶ 6:16 Kimberly Vandiver: And thank you. And Councilor Cal?

▶ 6:18 Elizabeth Kowal: Hi. Thanks so much for coming before us tonight. And you may have just answered this, but I'm curious. There's a lot of commissions in Melrose, and so what made you particularly interested in this one?

▶ 6:30 Speaker 4: Yeah. Like I mentioned, I was born and raised here. I love this city. Recently, late in 2024, bought my first home here. My folks, my parents are still here, brother's close in Charlestown. I really want Melrose, I want everyone who can to have the same experience as I did growing up in Melrose. It's a great, safe community. And I think serving in this capacity, hopefully, I can sort of add to that experience for others who may want it. Letting as many people in vulnerable communities experience this great place is a huge goal for me. So hopefully that gives you an idea.

▶ 7:10 Speaker 5: Thank you. Yes.

▶ 7:12 Kimberly Vandiver: And Councilor Park.

▶ 7:15 Speaker 3: Hi, Mark. Thank you for stepping up to apply for this position. And my question is, obviously you're familiar with the role and you've been in similar capacities in various positions. What do you see, in terms of the Housing Commission, that you would like to potentially take in a different direction or improve? Or what do you think immediately your first steps would be to sort of help the community in this role?

▶ 7:47 Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a great question that I might need some more time to think about. I can see it going in a few different directions. I think my priority number one would be to establish relationships with the other existing board members. I think that would be priority number one for me. I understand the importance of public housing. I have a family member who has intellectual disabilities, and his parents have sort of weighed the age-old question of whether he stays at home or whether he moves to a public facility. So I would love to sort of lean into that area of research related to MHA specifically, and sort of what we can do to provide citizens with intellectual disabilities with better opportunities. I imagine that the biggest hurdles will be the communications with state and federal government, potentially the lack or changing policy landscape with getting money to flow to local communities. So that's hopefully an area where I can explore and see where I can potentially help, and bring as many resources to Melrose as possible.

▶ 9:02 Speaker 3: Very good. Thank you.

▶ 9:05 Speaker 2: President Freeman for the second time. I'd like to make a motion to recommend.

▶ 9:09 Speaker 3: Second.

▶ 9:10 Kimberly Vandiver: Okay, we have a motion to recommend from President Freeman, seconded by Councilor Park. Anyone on discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? So that will go back to this full city council with a recommendation for approval. Thank you so much for coming before us, and for everyone's thoughtful questions and your thoughtful responses.